258 



ZONES AND REGIONS [Pt. Ill, Sect. 



the year. According to Schomburgk, in British Guiana 172 dicotyledonous an' 

 36 monocotyledonous plants flower throughout the year. 



In Schomburgk's catalogue of the Flora of Guiana the Dicotyledones of th 

 forest-district only are considered, because the Monocotyledones are nearly a 

 herbaceous. The relations between climate (Georgetown) and flowering perio 

 are shown in the following table : — 



CLIMATE AND FLOWERING SEASONS IN BRITISH GUIANA. 



The wettest months. May, June, July, and December, are poor in flowers whe 

 compared with the moderately moist months January, February, and April, ani 

 with the dry months September and October. The povertj' of blossom in Marc' 

 cannot be attributed to the climate. 



4. THE CAESALPINIACEAE IN THE BOTANIC GARDEN) 



AT BUITENZORG. I 



As an example of the bewildering phenomena associated with periodicit 

 in the tropics, the following extracts are given from my note-book regarc 

 ing the Cacsalpiniaccac in the botanic garden at Btdtcnzorg : — 



November 11, 1889. Although the family is one of those that posse:. 

 a large number of periodically deciduous trees, yet nearly all the trees a)| 

 more or less in leaf. The section stands out from a distance as a ma 

 of foliage in several shades of green. On examining it more closely 01 

 sees for the first time a picture to which no European garden can affoi 

 an analogy — a peculiar intermingling of all seasons. 



From the midst of the mass of foliage formed by the maj'ority of tl 

 trees, others stand out bare and leafless. To the latter belongs one 

 two specimens of the Brazilian Schizolobium excelsum, which howev 

 bears one quite young sterile branch in leaf, whilst the other branch 

 possess inflorescences but are leafless. The other tree is in full folia; 

 and bears some old fruits. In its home in South Brazil the tree is ba 

 of leaves during winter and blossoms at its conclusion. 



Few trees are in a condition comparable with that of our own tree 

 Among such trees are Phanera maculata and P. Richardiana, which, wi 

 their quite young foliage and their large rosy-red flowers, present a pictu 

 of spring. Near them stand several tall trees, Hymenaea Courbaril ai' 

 H. verrucosa, whose appearance may be described as autumnal : the s( 

 beneath them is thickly covered with dead leaves : their foliage is for tl 



